


Sweet, Sweet

by soul_writerr



Series: First Meetings - Wedding Themed [2]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Baker!Sonny Carisi, Cake, Cake tasting, First Meetings, Flirting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:47:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25287802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soul_writerr/pseuds/soul_writerr
Summary: “Well, he’s clearly eyeing you,” Olivia said. “Sonny, I mean.”Rafael scoffed. “He thinks we’re engaged.”“If you clarified that we aren’t, I’m positive he’d make a move.”“Olivia, I didn’t come here to flirt with a young, tall, definitely attractive baker."
Relationships: Rafael Barba/Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr.
Series: First Meetings - Wedding Themed [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1831978
Comments: 23
Kudos: 120
Collections: Marriage Barisi Bingo





	Sweet, Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am once again, marrying Olivia to someone else so Sonny and Rafael can meet! Miss Benson said BARISI RIGHTS!
> 
> This is for the Marriage Barisi Bingo, prompt "cake tasting", which was my free pick hehe Enjoy!

Rafael walked into the shop right behind Olivia, and he’d been very much looking forward to this. They both pulled their sunglasses off and looked around the nicely lit, pastel rainbow colored bakery with curious scrutiny. The room smelled sweet and it immediately reminded Rafael of spending Sundays with his abuelita when he was a child. 

It was a simple, modest store, but it was well kept. The flower arrangement on the main counter seemed fresh and inviting, and the couple round tables by the window looked cozy. And the cakes displayed, of course, looked absolutely delicious. Rafael looked through all of them, unable to conceal his interest.

Olivia approached the blonde young woman sitting behind the cash register. The tag on her dark purple apron read “Bella” in stylish cursive. 

“Hi. My name is Olivia Benson. I have an appointment with Sonny Carisi,” she said after checking the notes on her phone quickly.

Bella smiled at her and nodded. “Of course, I’ll get him for you.”

Her definition of “getting” this Sonny Carisi person was looking over her shoulder towards the door behind her and quite literally yelling his name. 

“Olivia Benson is here!,” she continued, then turned back to them with a sweet smile. “He’ll be right with you.” 

Olivia looked at her with an amused expression, but Rafael himself wasn’t impressed by the whole exchange. That sentiment was replicated by Sonny Carisi himself when he did come out from the back of the store, looking displeased. 

“What the hell, Bella?,” he frowned at her. “Could you please show sort of manners in front of clients?”

Bella pulled a face, but did look at Olivia and Rafael with an apologetic expression. 

“I’m so sorry about that,” the man was quick to say to them, smiling warmly and politely. 

He rounded the counter with a confident stride, but when his eyes met Rafael’s he noted there was a quick misstep as he approached. Rafael held back a smirk as the man recovered as well as he could given how absurdly long his legs were. 

As they stood face to face, he offered Rafael a hand to shake and a charming smile. 

“I’m Sonny Carisi,” he said unnecessarily. His apron, tied tightly around his lithe waist, also stated his name. “It’s a pleasure to have you.” 

“Rafael Barba,” he shook the man’s hand firmly, keeping eye contact for a couple beats. 

“And you must be Miss Olivia Benson,” Sonny turned to Olivia. 

“Yes, we spoke on the phone last week,” Olivia also shook his hand, but it was much more brief. 

“Well, Miss Benson,” he started, but Olivia raised a hand to interrupt him.

“Please, call me Olivia.” 

“Of course,” Sonny chuckled, then threw Rafael a look. “I guess she won’t be Miss Benson for long anyway.”

Rafael raised an eyebrow at him, and almost laughed when the other man started blushing profusely. He cleared his throat and straightened up. 

“Sorry,” he mumbled, then looked back at Olivia. “From what you told me on the phone, I managed to created five options catered to your preferences. No fuss, nothing fancy, just traditional and tasty like you asked.” 

“Thank you, Sonny,” she smiled softly. “I don’t mean to rush, but I do have to be back at work in one hour. So can we?”

“Yes, of course,” Sonny guided them deeper into the store, towards a long table which already had five cakes on display. “Take a seat, I’ll bring the plates.” 

Olivia and Rafael sat down, and Rafael couldn’t help but admire the sweets in front of them.

“Well, he’s clearly eyeing you,” Olivia said. “Sonny, I mean.” 

Rafael scoffed. “He thinks we’re engaged.” 

“If you clarified that _we_ _aren’t_ , I’m positive he’d make a move.”

“Olivia, I didn’t come here to flirt with a young, tall, definitely attractive baker,” he joked and Olivia laughed lightly. 

“No, you came here because my actual fiancé couldn’t be bothered to take one hour off from her schedule,” she said, mildly exasperated.

“Liv, I promise you Rita would be here if she could. Not for the cake, but for you,” Rafael said, smiling encouragingly at her. He’d had to endure Rita’s bad humor that morning because of her scheduling problems, he knew she didn’t bail on purpose. She wouldn’t. 

“I guess I’ll settle for second best, then,” she winked at him with a sly smile.

“I’ll have you know that regarding cake tasting, I’m your best bet,” Rafael said, a challenge on his face. 

“And regarding getting laid any time soon, the cute baker is  _ your  _ best bet,” Olivia said, then looked away from him when Sonny came back, balancing plates and cups of water. 

“Alright, here we go,” he said enthusiastically. “We should start with something very simple and laid back.”

He went to the furthest end of the table where he cut slices from a simple white cake with fondant flowers. Rafael wasn’t impressed by the look of it, but was willing to keep an open-mind. He always did when it came to cake. Especially  _ free  _ cake. 

“This is simple, but very high quality vanilla with just a touch of champagne in the filling,” Sonny placed two plates in front of them. “I swear you can feel it fizzle in your mouth.” 

Rafael took the first bite and felt his mouth start watering excessively the moment the cake touched his tongue. It was soft, light, sweet but not overly so, and Rafael definitely caught the hint of champagne. It was subtle, but his tongue wrapped around the flavor with pleasure.

“This is fantastic,” Olivia said, and she did sound quite impressed. “But I’m not sure about having champagne in the filling. There’ll be children there.”

“It’s fully non-alcoholic,” he said, then nodded. “But I have three nieces and a bunch of young cousins, so I get it. Let’s move on to the next one. Good thing I didn’t make you the caramel with rum one.” 

Rafael hummed in appreciation. “I’d love to try that one, actually.”

Sonny’s eyes bulged, and he looked between Olivia and Rafael like an overeager puppy. “Yeah? I can check our stock, but if we don’t have it I’ll get it done by tomorrow.” 

Olivia threw a look at Rafael. “Rafa, I just said no to alcohol-flavored cake.” 

“Fine,” he rolled his eyes. “Let’s see the next one, then.” 

Sonny looked between them one more time then moved on to cut two more slices from the next cake. 

“This one is strawberries and cream. It’s a light texture, but very sweet,” Sonny served them with a side of a sweet smile as well. 

Rafael definitely noticed the  _ looks _ that Olivia mentioned. He was polite in how he acknowledged Olivia, of course, but his eyes kept going back to Rafael. He watched him take a bite of cake, twisting his hands as he waited for his impression. 

The cake felt like a cloud on his tongue, but it was a little  _ too _ sweet, even for him, and Olivia said exactly that. She wasn’t as fond of sweet things as he was, and he knew Rita definitely wasn’t a fan. They’d have to find the middle ground. 

There were three other options yet to be tasted, but a part of Rafael hoped that, in the end, none of them were right. That way, he’d have an excuse to come back.

The next cake had a layer of frosting so smooth and shiny he could almost see his own reflection on it. It looked like chocolate, but a shade darker. 

“This one is the opposite of the strawberry cream,” he explained. “It tastes richer because it’s made with actual cocoa, not chocolate, so it’s not as sweet either.” 

And he was right, the texture was denser but smooth, and he heard Olivia hum her agreement as she chewed. It wasn’t Rafael’s personal favorite, but he knew Rita would like it. It was simple, but strong.

“Is there coffee in this?,” Rafael asked after swallowing his second bite. He felt the flavor linger on his tongue, and he recognized it all too well.

Sonny beamed at him. “Yes! Not enough to keep the children awake at night,” he reassured Olivia. “But just enough to enhance the chocolate flavor and dull down the sweetness.” 

“I think this is my favorite so far,” Olivia said with a nod. 

“Okay,” Sonny clapped excitedly. “The next one is a little controversial, but it’s one of my favorites. It’s salted caramel.”

Rafael immediately perked up; he loved salted caramel  _ everything.  _ Olivia, on the other hand, pulled a face, which made Sonny laugh. 

“Don’t knock it until you try it,” he said with a toothy grin. “It may sound sickeningly sweet, but I’ve perfected this recipe to be well balanced.” 

Rafael could barely contain himself in his seat as he took the first bite, then he immediately sank back into the chair with an exaggerated sigh. It was  _ divine _ and, like Sonny had said, perfectly balanced. He could practically feel the salt fighting on his tongue to keep the sweetness of the caramel in check. 

He didn’t even notice he’d closed his eyes, but when he opened them Sonny was looking at him with a blush high on his cheeks again. 

“I take it that’s the one?,” Sonny encouraged, but his smile fell a little when Olivia shook her head. 

Before she could argue against it, however, her phone started ringing and she quickly excused herself to answer it. 

“Normally when a couple can’t agree on a flavor I offer to make the layers as separate flavors, at no additional cost,” Sonny said to Rafael, eyes big and kind. 

“That’s very nice of you,” he said genuinely. “But we’re not actually a couple. Olivia and I work together and I’m a close friend of her fiancé’s, but she couldn’t come today, so I’m just the replacement. And best man.”

Sonny looked surprised at first, then his eyes went from Rafael’s face to his hands and back up. He looked both curious and cautious. 

“So you’re not…?,” he paused. “Engaged? Married?” 

Rafael smiled. “No, I’m single.”

Sonny straightened up. “Oh okay, that’s good,” he chuckled, running a hand down his apron. “I mean— I’m glad I wasn’t…”

He stopped again, looking away. How many times could Rafael make this man blush in an hour, he wondered.

“What?,” Rafael encouraged.

“Well, you know,” Sonny looked at him from under his eyelashes, a dimple flashing when he smirked. “I’m glad I wasn’t eyeing up an engaged man.” 

Rafael smirked back. “That would be bad for business, wouldn’t it?” 

“It’d ruin my business’ reputation. Besides, I believe in the sanctity of marriage,” Sonny said so slyly Rafael wanted to purr. 

“Maybe until I walked in here,” he replied slyly, and something akin to hunger flashed across Sonny’s face. 

“Until you walked in here,” he repeated in confirmation. “In your expensive three-piece suit and nice cologne.” 

Olivia walked back and sat down with a deep sigh then, which bode well for Rafael since he’d found himself speechless at the other man’s compliments.

“Okay, I’ve got ten minutes then I really need to go back,” she sat back down and immediately pushed the salted caramel cake away. “This one’s a no from me. What’s next?” 

Sonny scrambled to serve them the last cake, but his eyes barely left Rafael. “This one’s a personal favorite of mine as well. It’s almond with white chocolate filling and almond cream frosting.” 

It sounded promising, although Rafael doubted it’d be better than the salted caramel one. And as he took the first bite, he was proven right, but he also immediately knew Rita would love this one. 

And by Olivia’s reaction she did, too. “This is it,” she nodded, sure, then turned to Rafael. “What do you think? Would Rita prefer this over the cocoa one?”

“Definitely,” he agreed. “But Sonny was just telling me about maybe making the layers different flavors. You could have the almond cake for yourself and the dark chocolate for the children.”

Olivia looked at Sonny, hopeful. “Does that work?”

Sonny smiled broadly. “Absolutely!” 

“Perfect, then,” Olivia stood up. “I’ll call you to arrange everything properly and we can sort the payment.”

“No worries. Would you like to take a slice of the almond cake to your fiancé?” 

Olivia’s face softened in that way it did whenever she was touched by something. “Yeah, I’d like that.” 

Sonny smiled back, just as softly. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

Once he was out of an earshot, Olivia turned to Rafael with a thoughtful expression. “Tell me something Rafa, do you have to be back in your office right now?”

Rafael checked his watch just for show, because he definitely knew where she was going with that line of questioning. 

“Well, I had cleared two hours for this,” he scowled. “And you just cut our tasting short, so no.” 

“You don’t have to come with me. I’m meeting Rollins at the ME’s office, so unless you’d like to look at some dead bodies…”

Rafael rolled his eyes. “Hard pass.” 

Olivia laughed. “Then why don’t you stay and have a few more slices of free cake?”

“I didn’t know you liked playing matchmaker on your free time,” Rafael teased.

“Can I offer you some coffee before you go?,” Sonny asked as he came back with two boxes and a bag for traveling. 

Olivia shook her head. “Thank you, but I really do have to go.” 

“I’d love some coffee,” Rafael replied, settling back into his seat. 

Sonny looked at Rafael with his head tilted in a way that made him look like a puppy. 

“Great,” Olivia said, standing up. “Then could you be the  _ best  _ best man ever and take the cake with you? I’ll run by your office later and pick it up. Don’t tell Rita.” 

Rafael let out a dramatic sigh. “Why did I ever agree to being your best man?” 

Olivia smiled. “You owed me one,” with that, she patted him on the shoulder, said her goodbyes and left. 

Rafael made a show of sitting comfortably and looked back at Sonny with a grin. 

“So, coffee?,” Rafael asked. 

Sonny nodded eagerly. “Yes, right away.”

This time it was Sonny who yelled out Bella’s name, not leaving his spot in front of Rafael. He asked her to get them both coffees as he untied his apron, then and sat down across from him.

Sonny considered him for a moment, smiling softly. “You and Olivia work together, then?”

Rafael nodded. “I’m a prosecutor, she’s a police Captain. Her fiancé, my closest friend, is a defense attorney.” 

Both of Sonny’s eyebrows jumped up. “How does that happen? 

“It’s kind of a long story,” he shrugged.

“Well, we’ve got coffee and five cakes right here,” he said. “Where I’m from, that means we’ve got all the time in the world.” 

Rafael looked at his sparkling blue eyes and smiled. “I guess we do.”

Two months later, Sonny was Rafael’s plus one to Rita and Olivia’s wedding, and he blushed at every single compliment the cake got. 

**Author's Note:**

> Is Sonny cake? Rafael has the answer.
> 
> Let me know what you think, and don't forget to leave a little kudo if you liked it. More coming soon!


End file.
